Shaneel Lal: Spark, One NZ, 2degrees band together to cancel anti-trans trolls

Some anti-trans social media users this week attempted to boycott Spark, but with backing from One NZ and 2degrees, those threatening boycotts had nowhere to go. Photo / Dean Purcell

OPINION

Telecommunications providers were the target of anti-trans trolls on social media this week. There have also been calls to boycott Spark NZ by these trolls and others who don’t accept that trans women are women.

But where did it all start?

Instagram has created a new app called Threads, a text-based conversation app. It looks very similar to Twitter, but for now, I find it safer for queer people. So far, I have not come across any threats of violence against queer people, but on Twitter, that is a common experience. This week on the new app, I innocuously wrote that I hope Threads remains a TERF-free app and doesn’t turn into Twitter 2.0, to which Spark responded with “wholeheartedly co-signed”.

TERF translates to “transgender exclusionary radical feminist” and is used to refer to a person who opposes social and political measures intended to include transgender individuals or whose opinions on gender identity are considered hostile to transgender people.

Some social media users then called for people to boycott Spark. Spark then provided “more clarity” in a follow-up statement saying that it was a strong supporter of the LGBTQ+ community while also respecting “each person’s right to their own view”, which I believe includes the views of the users who were angry that Spark agreed Threads should remain a TERF-free app. That’s a self-contradictory position.

I don’t accept, but I understand Spark’s follow-up statement. Anti-trans Twitter users aggressively hounded Spark, mainly via burner accounts, accusing Spark of being misogynistic. Burner accounts do not have a person’s real name or photo.

When anti-trans Twitter users called for a Spark boycott, One NZ responded that it did not want customers who were anti-trans, and they stood with Spark. 2degrees added its support, claiming it strives to make “our workplaces and stores safe and inclusive no matter who you are, how you identify or who you love”.

I don’t remember the last time all major telecommunications providers came together on an issue. Those threatening boycotts had nowhere else to go when the trifecta came together. The only logical step would be for them to boycott all telecommunications providers. But no, they are all on the internet, still spewing hatred, so it appears no actual boycotting took place.

Now some think Spark is not an ally to queer people because they’ve declared themselves respectful of “each person’s right to their own view” when it faced pushback from anti-trans users. Spark should have blocked the abusive trolls and moved on.

Businesses need to understand threats of boycotts are empty. If businesses bow down to people threatening boycotts, it will allow anti-trans users to put their feet on businesses’ necks.

The threats will be overwhelming at first but if businesses allow themselves to sit through the screaming, their persistence will signal to other businesses which may be considering whether to pledge support to join them.

The power lay with the telecommunications providers. If Spark held firm, and One NZ and 2degrees had their back, which they did, what would anti-trans social media users do? Tie strings to cans? Businesses will combat anti-trans cancel culture by bonding together on important social matters. Their solidarity with each other in supporting the queer community will leave anti-trans mobile users with no choice.

The attempted cancellation of Spark for supporting queer people is not new. Anti-trans Kiwis have tried to cancel ASB, Kiwibank, Countdown, The Warehouse, and more businesses for supporting queer people. They are bullies. They target a business, harass them through email, phone and social media, and call for boycotts. But they’ve failed each time.

Anti-trans people may think that Spark’s follow-up statement means they are winning the war on transgender lives, but they are firing cannons from a sinking ship. The tides are turning, and it will drown them out. In the meantime, now that we have all major telecommunications providers, at least in theory, saying they support transgender New Zealanders, I hope the anti-trans users log off forever.

Shaneel Shavneel Lal (they/them) was instrumental in the bill to ban conversion therapy in New Zealand. They are a law and psychology student, model and influencer.